The Tables Have Turned
by DandelionsAndBurntBread
Summary: AU. I take a tentative step toward her, "Katniss? It's me, Peeta." She eyes me warily, like you would a poisonous snake. Her beautiful grey eyes are clouded over. She lets out a soul-ripping scream, one that doesn't sound human, "You're not Peeta! You're a mutt!"
1. She's Back

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins owns the characters and the quotes in the  
flashback. :) Reviews would be nice and I'm also posting this on my tumblr. (mydivergentmockingjay)**

I wander through the maze of 13, elated that they're rescuing Katniss, and used because they're doing it so I can continue being the Mockingjay.

I had broken down after we shot a propo showing that I was alive after the bombing that Katniss warned us about. I knew that whatever I said as the Mockingjay would be used to hurt her. I wouldn't give Snow any more ammunition.

Many questions ran through my head. _How will she be? What has he done to her? Will she be okay? _

I somehow make my way to my compartment. I open the dull gray door. I have nothing personal here, my family is dead, I have nothing. Well, I only have Katniss.

As I lay on the single hardened bed, I think about the last night of the Quell.

Katniss and Johanna had to take Beetee's coil of wire to the beach after the wave hit. _"I want to go with them as a guard,"_ I say, not wanting to let Katniss out of my sight. I wouldn't let that happen if she was to get out of this arena alive. _"You're too slow. Besides, I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard," _Beetee interjects_. "There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now," _he hands the coil to Johanna. I know I can't go, my fake leg inhibits me. I still want to go, but I keep my mouth shut.

I don't like this plan at all. I don't think Katniss does either. She wants to keep me alive. She can't. She needs to go home and have a life with Gale in District 12. As much pain as it brings me, it has to happen.

Katniss' voice takes me away from my thoughts, _"It's okay. We'll just drop the coil and come straight back up." "Not in the lightning zone," Beetee reminds her, "Head for the tree in the one-to-two o'clock sector. If you find you're running out of time, move over one more. Don't even think about going back to the beach though, until I can assess the damage." _

The only thing I can think about right now is that I don't want Katniss to go. I look over at her, she's walking over to me. I feel her warm hands press against my cool cheeks, _"Don't worry, I'll see you at midnight."_ She kisses me. I still feel the pressure of her lips as she walks away with Johanna.

The rest is a blur. The wire is cut by tributes whose names I can't remember. I am attacked by Finnick. He cuts deep into the space below the crook of my left arm. He then runs away calling after Katniss and Johanna. _He's going to attack them too. I have to save_ _her. _I scramble up on my feet. "Katniss!" I yell, "Katniss!" I hear her far off, "Peeta! Peeta! I'm here! Peeta!" I stumble through the trees, trying to find her. I locate her just in time to see her shoot an arrow through the forcefield. I'm paralyzed, and a hovercraft picks me up.

That's when I lost her.

I lay there for what seems like eternity, waiting for Haymitch to tell me the news.

After another eternity, I hear a knock on the door. I jolt out of bed, praying that Haymitch is bearing good news. I open the door to see a solemn expression on his face. "Come with me," is the only thing he says. We walk silently to the hospital wing. He goes into a door next to the one a man from 13 opens for me.

I see Katniss in a bed covered by a thin white sheet. The stark lighting makes her face look pale. The bags and dark circles under her eyes are set above hollow cheeks. She thinner than she ever has been before.

I take a tentative step toward her, "Katniss? It's me, Peeta." She eyes me warily, like you would a poisonous snake. Her beautiful grey eyes are clouded over. She lets out a soul-ripping scream, one that doesn't sound human, "You're not Peeta! You're a mutt!"

I feel tears well up in my eyes. _She doesn't know me. _I run from the room and I hear guards try to restrain her as she continually screams, "He's a mutt! A mutt I tell you!" Hot tears run down my face.

This isn't Katniss.


	2. Hijacked

I'm so sorry all if my updates are so short! I can't help it! And I'm also _really _sorry that it took so long to update! Gah! I'm a mess! Oh! And school is starting school is starting soon so I won't be able to write a lot because I'm taking advanced classes. High school here I come! _And_ **THE HUNGER GAMES COMES OUT ON AUGUST 18! **I'm so excited! *fangirling* _AND_ **THEY START FILIMING CATCHING FIRE IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! ***fangirling some more* Butthey still haven't told us who Finnick is yet! I hate Trollsgate... Anyway enough of my rambling read the extremely short update!

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games. The amazingly talented Suzanne Collins owns the series and the character within it.**

The farthest I get before I break down officially is a corner in the hallway of the hospital wing. What happened to her? Sobs rack my body and I let out strangled cries. Doctors and nurses pass me and shake their heads sympathetically.

I still sit, keeping my head down and chanting to myself, I have to save her. I have to her. From what? I don't know.

I'm half-mad when I see Haymitch walking toward me. He leans against the wall next to me. We sit in silence. "What happened to her?" I croak. He sighes, "We're not really sure. Snow did something to her brain. Plutarch didn't tell me much more." I put my head in my hands.

What if she stays like this forever?

I want to stay sitting in this corner forever, but I force myself onto my feet. I go to my gray compartment and I start sobbing again.

Aparrently at some point I fell into a dreamless sleep, which is a blessing.

I decide to go to the hospital wing again.

Somehow, I remember where she is. Haymitch followed me. I would too if I were him. He knows what I am doing and mutters something unintelligeble.

I open the door that Haymitch went into yesterday. To my right si a window. Many doctors holding clipboards write purposefully, others just look through the window, seemingly deep in thought.

I lock eyes with Katniss, but I know she is only seeing her almost feral reflection staring back. I also find Plutarch here, which is semi-surprising. As I walk to him I say, "What happened to her, Plutarch?" My voice startles him a bit, "We're not comepletely sure since this is a rare technique, but we believe they have used something called 'hijacking.'" I raise my eyebrows in question, he goes on, "We believe President Snow injected her with tracker jacker venom to distort her memories."

I remember when Katniss dropped the tracker jacker nest on me and the Careers in the first arena. I remember the hallucinations brought on by the painful stings. How many times did I watch Katniss die? How many times did I lose my family? I can only imagine what she is going through. What would it be like if I didn't know what was real and what wasn't?

I want to be in that room with her. I want to hold her in my arms and protect her from the nightmares like I did on the train. I know I can't, so I just say, "What can we do?" He sighes in what seems to be exasperation, "We don't really know how to treat hijacking, it's so rarely used. We're going to try to counteract it by using a calming drug like morphling, but all of this is trial and error, Peeta."

She might stay like this for the rest of her life. She'll be living a nightmare.

Anger bubbles in my chest. They have to do something! Plutarch must see that under the surface, I'm almost seething, because he says quickly, "But when she isn't having one of her episodes, it's almost like she was never hijacked at all."

I think of how Katniss was. She was stubborn and sometimes surly, but she cared about what was right and who she loved.

I smile at the memory of the old Katniss. I know she's in there somewhere, we just have to find her. I look through the glass again and see that she has her knees tucked to her chest and has a distant look in her eyes. You're strong. I know you are. Stay strong, Katniss. I send this silent message, hopefully helping her sanity.

I stay in the room with the window. It's like watching a car crash, as much pain as it causes you to stay and watch, you can't look away.

All I do when I am there is stare at Katniss and pray that she will get better. I don't understand, nor do I pay attention to what the doctors are saying about her, so Prim and Madge dive me updates on her condition.

I always feel a pang of jealousy when they tell me anything about her. I want to be there. I promised I would always stay with her. I don't like breaking promises, but this time I have to.

It probably won't be the last.


	3. Love and Hate

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! :D Sorry it's been so long and it's so short! Writers block and high school **do not **mix! I think the updates will be longer apart. Just giving you fair warning! Also, much thanks to Aub (AwesomeDragonGirl1601) for helping me with questions I had. (I promise I'll help you too!) :) So...read on!

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the plotline or characters of The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins still owns it all.**

**Katniss**

The doctors poke and prod me.

I've become used to it, actually. But what I haven't gotten used to, are the hallucinations.

In them, Peeta, who loved me with all of his heart, is trying to kill me. His once soft, loving expression is replaced by an evil, sadistic one.

I see Prim, emaciated and dying. The mutts from the first arena come to kill me.

All of my nightmares are becoming real.

It's a scary thing to comprehend. What if all of your nightmares were real? Or at least, they seem real?

Being tortured, watching those you love most murdered. If you can imagine that, you have a pretty good idea of how life has been since I was rescued from the Capitol. In my hospital bed, I shiver at the thought of those first few days.

I was thrown into a small, dank cell. Each one was seperated by a chain link fence. The only person next to me was Johanna Mason, the female Victor from District 7. Though I thought she hated me, we grew close, or as close as two tortured people can get. Maybe desperate times do call for desperate measures.

Either way, we understood each other's pain. We understood that every time we lied or gave them false information, we would be punished for it.

The days before they started injecting me with the venom were tame compared to the actual episodes. I always wanted to fight them, to push them out of my mind entirely. But with what they did, I knew then, and now, that it was irreparable.

A female doctor from 13 with wavy brown hair and big chocolate colored eyes, taps me on the shoulder to let me know that she is going to inject me with medicine. I'm confused for a second but then I realize she didn't want me to possibly attack her or something similar. If I were treating a mentally unstable Victor, I'd be cautious too.

I feel the injection in my arm, this reminds me of when they injected me with the horrible venom. The feeling passes, like almost all of the other ones. Maybe one of the only feelings that last is hate. Hate for this war and the Rebels. Hate for Peeta and how he is helping the Rebels… Why do I hate him? What has he done to me? He's only blown up the entire District.

Anger bubbles inside of me. I see Peeta at the Gallows that Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread had built in the square. Ropes are around the necks of people I love. Prim, my little duck, is crying softly. I only see her as he taunts me at how I can't save them.

I'm confused for a second. Why would Peeta want to hurt my family, or me for that matter? The boy who gave me the life saving bread. The boy who declared his love for me on national television. This doesn't add up.

All of my thoughts jumble inside of my head. I don't know anything anymore. What's happening? I remember when we were in the cave in the first arena. The hunger that I felt. The kiss that made me want another.

These thoughts bring me back into reality. Instead of the gallows, I'm back in the hospital room.

Maybe there isn't just hate. Maybe there's love. The two emotions that are most opposite stay. I guess they balcance each other out somehow. I'm not sure which will stick with me.


End file.
